Canes win opener, beating Gators 41-17 at The Swamp

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The Miami Hurricanes won their first game of the season against the Florida Gators on Saturday afternoon at The Swamp in Gainesville.

The Canes started winning 7-3 during the first quarter. In the second quarter, they scored 17 more touchdowns and the Gators 7 more — but The U was still winning 24-10. The Canes scored 14 more touchdowns during the third quarter. The fourth quarter sealed the victory with 41-17.

The University of Miami’s Mario Cristobal and The University of Florida’s Billy Napier were giving it all at the Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. The Canes were slight favorites over Florida, while The Gators hoped to bounce back from a disappointing 5-7 season.

“Every single day, every single week, every single month we are closing in more and more on what Miami needs to look like,” Cristobal said during a recent interview in Coral Gables.

The 19th-ranked Canes entered the third year of the Cristobal era with great expectations after another highly-ranked recruiting class. The opener also marked the first game as a Hurricane for quarterback Cam Ward, who transferred from Washington State.

Other college football games on Saturday included Florida International University at Indiana State at 3:30 pm; Ave Maria University at Stetson at 6 pm; South Carolina State at Florida A&M at 6 pm; and Bethune-Cookman at 7 pm at the University of South Florida.